The Economics of Illicit Drugs Essay

In this essay I will define drug abuse and show the economic impact of the sales of illicit drugs. I will introduce an argument for legalization and the impact to the economy. Next I will discuss some of the economic cost from lack of productivity, health care cost and other cost associated with Drug abuse.
In order to understand the economic impact of illicit drugs we must first define what a drug is. A drug is defined as any substance other than food that affects the way your mind or body works. Abuse is defined as the wrong use or misuse of something. So drug abuse would be defined as the wrong use of drugs. As a D.A.R.E. officer, this definition has been ingrained into my mind for the past eighteen years.
During my twenty years of Law Enforcement I have learned how dangerous drugs are to the economy. They damage your body and drug abuse also has a huge economic impact on the country.
In the United States there are two types of drugs legal and illegal. The legal drugs have two subcategories, prescription and over the counter. Prescription drugs are placed into different categories called schedules. The ones that have a highest chance for abuse or addiction have a higher place in the schedule. Schedule I drugs are the drugs that have no safe or accepted medical use in the United States. Examples are heroin, marijuana, LSD, PCP, and crack cocaine. As you go down the schedule the drugs become less addictive and have a small potential for abuse, but are still controlled by the Drug Enforcement Agency. Schedule V are the lowest controlled drugs. Examples are codeine, valium and xanax Non prescription drugs are those that are sold over the counter and you do not need a prescription to purchase.
The illegal o...

... middle of paper ...

...0,000,000 on the health care, productivity and other cost, yet in the same time period we only spent $150 Billion on enforcing the drug laws.
If we focused on the treatment and rehabilitation of drug abusers, I feel a substantial portion of the trillion dollars could be used for other things. The economic benefit could possibly be unmeasurable.

Click the button above to view the complete essay, speech, term paper, or research paper

The Solution to the Immoral, Unwinnable War on Drugs
Essay
- ... Medical marijuana is common in the USA and Canada for conditions such as crohn's disease, whereas in the UK the continued blanket ban on forms of cannabis that aren't GW Pharmaceuticals' Sativex means that costs are too high for it to be used to help sufferers (Erhorn, 2010). Decriminalization would be a solution to all these problems, and more. Decriminalization: Why this is the route our nation must take. Economically intelligent: There is no doubt that decriminalising drugs would be an economically smart move for the United Kingdom to take.... [tags: incarceration, decriminalization, economics]

Legalization of Drugs Essay
- The current hot-topic debate about the legalization of marijuana for medical exposes the long lasting debate about the economic viability of prohibiting certain kind of drugs considered illicit. Many social costs to society are attributable to illicit drugs, along with tobacco, alcohol, and guns. In fact, each of these vices is allegedly responsible for $200 billion annual expenditure in social costs of the USA (Donohue, 2010). Interestingly, all these commodities mentioned above have common characteristics: a sizeable proportion of consumers responsibly use each of them hence virtually zero social externality; and a trivial subset of society individuals irresponsibly use each of these comm... [tags: alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, opponents]:: 4 Works Cited

Differing Methods of Approaching the Marijuana Debate Essay
- There are many different uses for marijuana and reasons it should be legalized, or remain illegal. The main argument that always comes about is the possibility of the economic gains that could be brought forth through legalization. The article “Drug Markets: A Classroom Experiment” by Gwendolyn Alexander Tedeschi, Published in The American Economist, takes a look at the economics of illegal drug markets. In the work Tedeschi presents the findings of a classroom experiment on said markets, and gives the necessary information for other economic educators to replicate the experiment.... [tags: Drugs]:: 2 Works Cited

The Failure of the War on Drugs Essay
- In the early 1980s, policymakers and law enforcement officials stepped up efforts to combat the trafficking and use of illicit drugs. This was the popular “war on drugs,” hailed by conservatives and liberals alike as a means to restore order and hope to communities and families plagued by anti-social or self-destructive pathologies. By reducing illicit drug use, many claimed, the drug war would significantly reduce the rate of serious nondrug crimes - robbery, assault, rape, homicide and the like.... [tags: Critical Thinking Essays]

Count the Cost is a Collaborative Effort to Fight the War on Drugs Essay
- ... 2. Redirecting strategies This policy calls for changes that would focus on healthcare, education, de-stigmatization, and public security, and redirect repressive strategies towards the fight against organized drug crime. The policy requires nations to incorporate treatment for those affected by drugs into respective national healthcare schemes, and to reallocate funds given to state militaries for countering drug crimes towards development practices in major drug producing nations in order to generate alternate employment, improve education and treatment facilities, and pave way for crop substitution.... [tags: crime, discrimination, organizations]

Illicit Drugs and Bikers in Australia Essay examples
- ... The economic cost to the Government for counselling and rehabilitation falls on either state or federal governments while the social impact falls upon social workers (3). A breakdown of the economic cost was study by the Australian Instituted of Criminology and there results are as followed: Death that is due to illicit drug dependences was estimated to cost about $510 million; this cost fell to the lost productivity. Hospitalisation including emergence department and the mental health unit was estimated at $26 million (5).... [tags: substance abuse, Australian policy and regulations]

Drug Abuse, Prison and Justice in Hungary Essay
- CRIMINAL JUSTICE Each year the Hungarian police reports approximately six thousand drug-related criminal cases. These cases include a wide spectrum of offenses, ranging from cross-border drug smuggling to possession and consumption of a single marijuana cigarette. Those people who are lucky enough to be arrested with only a small quantity of illegal drugs have the chance to avoid incarceration once every two years and instead participate in a rehab program. However, those caught with a larger amount, or for the second time within a two-year period, face prison sentence of up to two years regardless of whether it is marijuana or cocaine.iv Putting drug consumers through a tedious legal proced... [tags: Drugs, Criminalization]

Eureka, Pro legalization of Marijuana may lead to the New American Gold Rush!
- The legalization of marijuana will have a profound, positive impact on the national economy and our government could generate and save billions. Our countries present spiraling economy is attacking us like a flesh-eating virus. The time has come for us to declare war on this life threatening aliment as we would any other terminal illness. Declaration of War: Marijuana Pro-legislation is the declaration of war on this nation's current economic plight. This battle begins with the legalization of marijuana for medical purposes, and then moves in to full fight for legal overall use.... [tags: Drugs]:: 5 Works Cited

Essay about Social Welfare Beneficiaries on Illegal Drugs
- People who apply for welfare benefits should be tested for drugs and they should be cleared of all illicit drugs before they receive any benefits in the form of cash or food stamps because, the government spends so much money on welfare and rehabilitation programs and screening welfare recipients will help the government save more money to fix the economy. Most employees are tested of illicit drugs before they are employed by their employer so why shouldn’t welfare recipients also be tested of illicit drug before they receive any kind of assistance.... [tags: drug addicts, tobacco, illicit drugs]

Essay on America’s Drug War
- The War on Drugs, like the war on Terrorism, is a war that America may not be able to afford to win. For over forty years the United States has been fighting the War on Drugs and there is no end in sight. It has turned into a war that is about politics and economics rather than about drugs and criminals. The victims of this war are numerous; but perhaps they are not as numerous as those who benefit from the war itself. History of U.S Drug Policy: While laws prohibiting the use of drugs, in one form or another, can be traced back to the 1870s, it was not until 1968, when Richard M.... [tags: Illegal Drugs, Narcotics Essays]:: 10 Works Cited